Many gamers were aggrieved by the skin tone automatically assigned them. The reactions to Rust’s unprecedented experiment were swift. We will be adding more of these later on (at which point your face will probably change). We only have two face textures and two face materials, which means there are four possible combinations. Right now your avatar is randomized via three things: skin color, head mesh and head material.
Just like in real life, you are who you are - you can’t change your skin color or your face. Newman explained the change in a blog post:Įveryone now has a pseudo-unique skin tone and face. Instead, they are assigned one at random. However, they did so with a twist - unlike typical massively multiplayer online role-playing games, Rust does not allow players to choose the race of their avatar. With the most recent update, Rust’s lead developer, Garry Newman, introduced different avatars of different racial origins into the mix. When the game was first opened up, all players were given the same default avatar: a bald white man. They must contend with starvation, hypothermia and animal attacks, but by far the most dangerous threat comes from other players who roam the island. Players find themselves “born” into a mysterious wilderness, naked and alone, forced to forage for resources and to craft clothing, supplies and shelter for themselves. Next up? Trans and genderqueer characters.Rust, a 2013 indie survival game from Facepunch Studios, plays like a cross between Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto. Who knows, I may even be randomized as a white dude and get to survive the game via total and complete privilege. And to those that are “going to Rust‘s competitors” in protest? Great! Go! Because there are plenty of us who want to play this game as-is. It’s pretty amazing that there’s a game like this that actively wants to explore issues of race and gender this way.
Some of that, as it depressingly does in the real world, may come from their appearance, the physical characteristics they have no control over. He wants players to have to deal with the ramifications of who they are. By presenting a choice and choosing for them we’re saying to them ‘you’re a black guy’ and they’re saying back ‘no I’m not’ and we’re saying ‘look at your hands’ and they’re saying ‘fuck you, I don’t want to be black’ and we’re saying ‘DEAL WITH IT.’”īut that’s the whole point, says Newman. “It’s that a choice exists, but they don’t get to choose it. “It’s not so much being ‘them,’” he said. Then again, by specifying “I have to be a fucking black guy until the end of time?” when you probably wouldn’t have the same complaint if you “had to be a fucking white guy until the end of time,” you must see how that’s not only a teensy bit racist problematic, but also a big reason behind why Rust lead, Garry Newman, created the game this way in the first place. Despite the plethora of other games in which you can damn near choose a character’s damn eyelashes, having your character be completely random in this one game is apparently too much to bear! What? You expect me to be a girl? Or a black guy? Or *gasp* a BLACK WOMAN?! HOW WILL I LIIIIIIIVE? Needless to say (I wish I had to say, but it’s totally needless, am I right?), not everyone’s happy about this. What’s more, the result is permanently tied to your Steam ID so you never get to change it, no matter what server you’re playing on. That, like all other character traits in Rust, will be randomized. It gives you plenty of choices, then makes your choice for you.Īccording to Steamed, Rust is adding female characters! Yay! It’s a survival game, right? So…let’s presume that some women survive so that we can continue the human race, n’est pas? What’s interesting about this, though, is that players won’t get to decide their gender. Rust on Steam provides an alternative to both of those scenarios. Other games don’t give you a choice at all (and the default is usually a white dude). It’s like plastic surgery without the recovery time. Many games fulfill that need by allowing you to choose everything from your gender, to your skin tone, to your hairstyle, outfit, and cheekbones. Many gamers turn to video games for escape to leave the mundane world behind and pretend to be all-powerful in a world (and a body) of their own making.
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